Social media is meant to be a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family. You can share snippets of your life so that those closest to you can share in your important moments. However, everything is not sunshine and happiness when it comes to using these platforms. It’s important for you to know the dangers of social media and how to avoid them. Once you do, you can have fun while staying safe.
Dangers Of Social Media And How To Avoid Them
- Know who can see your posts. All social media platforms will have security settings which allow you to set who is able to see your posts. If your settings are set to public, anyone who visits your page can see them. There are other settings such as friends, friends of friends and private. You must find the setting that gives you the privacy you require. We recommend not allowing people you don’t know to see your posts.
- Don’t overshare. It’s easy to become too comfortable on social media. Some people feel like their profile is a safe space where they can speak their minds with no consequences. Unfortunately, this isn’t reality. Your words and what you share can have consequences. Whether you share too much information about what you’re doing, political posts or inappropriate content could all come back to haunt you. Potential or current employers could view your profile and decide not to hire you or even fire you from your current position.
- Be careful who you add to your friends list. If you don’t know someone in real life, you probably shouldn’t accept their friend request (at least without vetting them first). If you don’t actually know someone, you may not know their intentions for adding you as a friend. When you accept their request, they could become privy to some of your personal information. This could open you up to the possibility of identity theft.
- Be aware of what people are tagging you in. Depending on your privacy settings, people can tag you in posts and it may show up on your profile. If you are tagged in an inappropriate post, you could face the consequences when people view it. Platforms such as Facebook allow you to review your tags before they’re added to your profile.
- Always be wary when receiving messages unsolicited. Phishing scams are becoming more and more popular. You may receive a message from someone you “know” asking for money or personal information. It may be someone pretending to be a friend or family member. If you receive a message like this, call them or get in touch with them in a different way. One red flag is when someone asks you to pay with gift cards or cryptocurrency. This is a sign that you’re almost assuredly being scammed.
- Be careful when clicking on advertisements. If you see an ad for an amazing deal or something that interests you. You need to ensure that the site you’re visiting is a secure website. If it’s an online store, do some research to see whether the site is reputable or not. If the website isn’t secure or is a scam website, you may send money for an item and never receive it.
- Consider signing up for a social media privacy and fraud safety service. Identity Theft Fraud Solutions recently unveiled groundbreaking technology that will provide monitoring of your social media profiles and will alert you when it detects fraud and scams, fights account takeovers and flags inappropriate content. This service will provide you with peace of mind while allowing you to take action on any detected threats from one easy-to-use dashboard.
You now know some of the dangers of social media and how to avoid them. Social media can be great if you’re careful. Keep connecting with friends and family but keep your eyes open while doing so.
